For the longest time, it seemed like all satellite mainstay WOWOW was interested in, when it came to dramas, were well made short specials. But 2008 was finally the year when they started getting into the game seriously, with their renzoku doramaW series. Opening the dances was Inoue Yumiko's classy, wicked and phenomenal パンドラ (Pandora), but their second effort maintains the admirable quality which is making this new format into the most interesting "next big thing" on Japanese TV. For who's watching anyway.

プリズナー (Prisoner) was adapted from a true story, the account of a Japanese man arrested in Cambodia, protagonist of Sawai Kujira's Prisoner in Phnom Penh. The location changed to an imaginary island in Southeast Asia (shoot was in Thailand), but the rest remains more or less the same. Going to Seraivia to meet old senpai Yuzurihara (Nakamura Shunsuke), Izawa Keigo (Tamayama Tetsuji) finds himself involved in more than he could ever expect. He quickly learns there's no law you can't bend with a few good dead presidents, and that embassies only work as long as you don't become a burden to them. Following a man who conned his friend, Keigo finds himself in prison, with a 10 year sentence and seemingly no way to escape, although he does find a friend in the ambiguous Pon (Ohmori Nao, his first drama appearance in two years). Real estate intrigues, corrupt police, a mounting death toll and the tasty decadence of a banana (or... well, pineapple) republic. That's Seraivia for you.

A healthy mix of OZ and Prison Break tropes with a touch of "is-it-Yoda-starring-in-a-90s action flick"-styled English dialogue and deliciously trashy atmosphere, Prisoner is perhaps the polar opposite of Pandora. It's just as decadent and wicked (you'll quickly find out there's no such thing as good guys on WOWOW dramas), but it's also a lot more rough around the edges (in a good way) and full of guilty pleasure-level English acting by all involved. What's for sure is this is one of the most fast-paced, involving and surprising doramas of the year. It's also WithS2's first ever Japanese project, which never hurts. Especially when the drama is this good. Ohh Ohh Ohh! Santa is coming, purezento desu ne~

Thanks for subbing this series. I can't download episode 1 from the megaupload link provided by Aigoo as it says to use the premium account, it doesn't allow u to enter the normal 3 letter password. It's fine for the other episodes..
Can anyone help?

fredf355 wrote:Thanks for subbing this series. I can't download episode 1 from the megaupload link provided by Aigoo as it says to use the premium account, it doesn't allow u to enter the normal 3 letter password. It's fine for the other episodes..Can anyone help?

You need a premium account to download it. Best try your luck with the torrents.

Episodes 2-5 are fine to download, don't understand why episode one requires a premium megaupload account and the other episodes dont? Plus the 1st episode seems to be a much larger file?? Does anyone know if any of he torrent files are synched to the subs?
Thanks

fredf355 wrote:Thanks for subbing this series. I can't download episode 1 from the megaupload link provided by Aigoo as it says to use the premium account, it doesn't allow u to enter the normal 3 letter password. It's fine for the other episodes..Can anyone help?

There are torrents here on DA but not sure if they are synced...
Well you can re-sync it yourself using Subtitles Workshop..

Good Luck...

And THANKS for subbing this...
It's like a Great Xmas Gift for DA fans...

I have been checking the fansub announcement page so many times hoping someone would sub this amazing drama.
Thank you for giving us such a wonderful X-mas surprise. You made me really happy! Your subs are always excellent - your hard work is much appreciated!!!

fredf355 wrote:Thanks for subbing this series. I can't download episode 1 from the megaupload link provided by Aigoo as it says to use the premium account, it doesn't allow u to enter the normal 3 letter password. It's fine for the other episodes..Can anyone help?

I've uploaded it on MF
[spoiler]http://nomanymore.blogspot.com/2008/12/2008-drama-prisoner.html[/spoiler]

The subtitles for episodes 1-4 are fine for 1280x720 XviD uploads by gryzze. But episode 5 is out of sync from the start due to the intro video. The same intro video as in episode 3. While the subtitle for episode 3 accounts for the intro, episode 5's subtitle does not. Can some kind soul retime episode 5, please?